Gig economy and insecure work

There has always been insecure work. Back in the 1900s, men would turn up to the docks, the bosses would choose who worked that day. In modern Britain, GMB estimates that up to 10 million people are in a form of insecure work, from bogus self-employment to agency work and zero hours.

We all know that insecure work means people can’t plan their lives. If you don’t know what hours you’ll work, how can you plan childcare? If you don’t know how much you’ll get paid, how can you budget? The problem is, it works for employers. Some employers have built entire business models on it. By keeping people in insecure work, they avoid giving proper workplace rights and I some cases even paying the minimum wage. It’s hard to put your head above the parapet when you’re on a zero hours contract because the boss just won’t give you any hours next week. It doesn’t stop there, the use of lower paid, insecure workers to undercut the rights, terms and conditions of permanent workers is rife.

The union movement has a moral right to tackle the increasing use of insecure workers, and a practical obligation to defend the terms, conditions and pay of our members in the permanent workforce who are put at risk through this sort of exploitation. And with up to 10 million people in in secure work, there’s a lots of potential to grow our union too.

In the current world of work, we hear about the ‘gig economy’ a lot. Simply, you get paid per job or ‘gig’. This is just the newest way for employers to avoid proper rights and pay – the taxi firm Uber, for example, says they’re not a taxi company but an app! You could have fooled us. GMB took a case against them in court and won – the courts ruled that Uber is an employer, of course they’re appealing but it shows what can be done. Our Legal Team are doing the same in the courier industry with companies like Hermes and DX, and again with professional drivers by winning a case against Addison Lee.

There are lots of instances where GMB has organised members to get a better deal for insecure workers, and permanent workers at the same time – that means forcing ASOS to change ‘flex’ arrangements and getting food processing workers onto permanent contracts instead of agency ones (which benefits the agency workers but also the permanent workforce who feel their jobs are at risk from undercutting). Those are just two examples from GMB regions.

If you’ve got a story to tell on organising insecure workers – or any ideas or thoughts about it – get in touch and let us know on hello@gmb.org.uk.

There are lots of companies who use the ‘fake self-employment’ model. Uber was one example, but this practice is also rife in distribution in companies like DX and Hermes.

Here are some of the signs to watch out for in to determine if someone could be fake self-employed:

Do they wear a branded company uniform or drive a company vehicle?
Exclusivity - is the worker allowed to work for other companies? If not, this could suggest they are employed.
Does the employer provide equipment and facilities to do the job?
Obligation - is the worker obligated to do the job or a certain amount of hours?

If the answer to these questions is yes, then the worker could be legally classed as such - as a 'worker' - under the law.